Overview
At this live event taped for national broadcast, you’ll hear stories on the theme of memory: the way it plays tricks on us, colors the world around us, and sometimes goes missing. Storytellers include neuroscientists Daniella Schiller, Moran Cerf, and Andre Fenton, and science writer Meehan Crist.
Presented with support from the Alfred P. Sloan foundation.
Storytellers:
Moran Cerf is a neuroscientist at Caltech and the departments of neurosurgery at UCLA and NYU. In his research, Dr. Cerf studies how consciousness works in our brain, and how high-level emotions are regulated in our brain using direct recording from single neurons in the brains of patients undergoing brain-surgery. Moran received an M.A. in Philosophy of Science and a B.Sc. in Physics. Prior to his studies, Moran worked for several years in the Israeli high-tech industry as a hacker, a pilot and an inventor. Moran is the current Los Angeles Moth Grandslam winner. He’s got stories.
Meehan Crist is Resident Writer in Biological Sciences at Columbia University. Previously, she was reviews editor at The Believer and her work has appeared in publications such as The Los Angeles Times, Lapham’s Quarterly, The Believer, N+1BR, Ecotone, Bookforum, Scientific American, and Science. She holds an MFA from Columbia University and is a founding member of NeuWrite, a collaborative working group for scientists and writers. Awards include the Olive B. O’Connor Fellowship as well as fellowships from MacDowell, The Blue Mountain Center, Ucross, and Yaddo. She is currently at work on a nonfiction book about traumatic brain injury.
Andre Fenton is a neuroscientist, biomedical engineer and entrepreneur working on three related problems: how brains store information in memory; how brains coordinate knowledge to selectively activate relevant information and suppress irrelevant information; and how to record electrical activity from brain cells in freely-moving subjects. André is a Professor of Neural Science at New York University’s Center for Neural Science. He founded Bio-Signal Group Corp., which is developing an inexpensive, miniature wireless EEG system for functional brain monitoring of patients in emergency medicine applications and other clinical scenarios.
Daniela Schiller is a scientist. Her research is about the neuroscience of emotions. She is currently trying to erase memories.
About The Story Collider:
From finding awe in Hubble images to visiting the doctor, science is everywhere in our lives. Whether we wear a white lab coat or haven’t seen a test tube since eighth grade, science affects and changes us. We all have a story about science, and at The Story Collider, we want to hear those stories.
“The tones balanced stand-up funny and powerfully confessional… The crowd’s reactions veered from belly laughs to pin-drop silence.” — Andy Beta, The Wall Street Journal
“The experience was incredibly cathartic, and having people come up to me afterwards and tell me how interesting and moving they found my story was as gratifying as any compliment I have ever received about my research.” — David Carmel, Nature
About Studio 360:
The Peabody Award-winning Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen, from PRI and WNYC, is public radio’s smart and surprising guide to what’s happening in pop culture and the arts. Each week, Kurt Andersen introduces you to the people who are creating and shaping our culture. Life is busy — let Studio 360 steer you to the must-see movie this weekend, the next book for your nightstand, or the song that will change your life.